FRIDAY FOTO (December 3, 2021)

Footloose.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Michael Eaddy)

First reaction to this photo: Wait, what?

Second reaction: What IS that? A holiday clothing drive gone wrong?

Third reaction: Oh, like Soylent Green it’s … People! (Click on photo to enlarge image)

By our count, there are 12 separate feet in the photo, so six Soldiers bunched together?

The caption the Defense Department sent with this photo reads simply: “Soldiers conduct special patrol intersection extraction system training at Fort Campbell, Tenn., Nov. 14, 2021.” It doesn’t explain why these soldiers are tangled together like a bunch of eels.

Apparently, the angle of this photo creates an optical illusion, because the photo below shows what special patrol intersection extraction system (SPIES) training looks like from a distance.

This photo shows Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) perform Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction System (SPIES) training during Operation Lethal Eagle — the first division sized field training exercise for the 101st in over 20 years — on November 7, 2021 at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Oh, before anyone complains that the first photo was taken at Fort Campbell, KENTUCKY — not Tennessee — it should be noted the huge (164-square miles) fort straddles the border between the Bluegrass State and the Volunteer State.